The Wall Street Journal reports that Universal is “close to an agreement” with Nintendo to create a Super Mario Brothers animated movie. Notably, Universal will be giving the project to Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind Despicable Me, Minions, and The Secret Life of Pets.

According to the WSJ, “the most complicated issue in the negotiations between Illumination and Nintendo has been making the Japanese videogame company feel confident it will be involved enough in the creative process.” Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto will “likely” be a producer.

The Super Mario Brothers movie is still in “the early stages of development, meaning it likely wouldn’t come out for several years.”

Illumination Entertainment is known for its vibrant and fun animated movies, so they seem like the ideal studio to create a gorgeous Mario movie that lives up to visuals of the recent video games. Given the breath of Mario’s world and Nintendo’s interest in having creative control — as they continue to produce amazing Mario games — it seems possible that this deal could turn into a series of excellent movies.

The news comes a few months after Universal and Nintendo announced that they are developed a few lands called Super Nintendo World for Universal theme parks.

And you have to think that there will be a Mario game or two based on the movie(s)… 🙌

The new Wizarding World logo is being billed as a way to reflect what’s going on in the franchise over the next few years, but it also reveals that J.K. Rowling is finally allowing others to dive into her creation.

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